Hello! Welcome to Busy Doesn’t Equal Success, an e-course designed to help you manage your time, get shit done and get you closer to your version of success without burning out.

This is a topic that has been dear to my heart ever since I ventured into the world of self-employment in 2014.

I started my first business, LH design, after a redundancy and a realisation I was going to have to create the career I desired, rather than put my future into the hands of other people. Starting a paper goods brand with just an internet connection, ink and some paper was truly exciting and I knew it was my calling. I felt in my bones that this was what I was meant to do with my life; to be a creative living off of my wares and having the flexibility to live life how I desired to. But, at the beginning, that’s not how it panned out.

I worked lonely 12 hour days from my living room; not leaving the house for anything apart from to take orders to the post office and never allowing myself to just y’know, breathe, because I thought that’s what 'proper' business owners did. I made sweet F-A when it came to money. I was being told by those marketing gurus you see pop up on social media that I didn’t have a chance of being successful if I didn’t hustle every day. That if I had spare time, it meant I was a failure. And because I genuinely didn’t know any better (and I was desperate), I believed them. I worked myself to the ground; eventually burning out so bad that I ended up in hospital with a fractured skull, broken nose and a massively bruised ego after collapsing from exhaustion and general worn-down-ness. I know- dramatic.

After realising busy doesn’t equal success and that cultivating rest and balance was more important than running myself into the ground trying to prove myself, I soon changed my life and my business around. I set boundaries, came up with systems and processes that changed my routine and scheduling for the better and grew to trust myself and my intuition. I started doing business my way -- not the way I was being told I should do by all of the noise, all of the ‘watch this webinar and have quadruple figure month’s forEVER’s or ‘get 10,000 newsletter subscribers by buying my e-course that won’t actually tell you anything apart from to buy my OTHER e-course’ (that’s not what’s happening here, btw ;) ).

I’ve created this course as time management and avoiding burnout is a huge issue within the entrepreneurial world (and, y’know, the whole world). As entrepreneurs, we’re told by ‘gurus’ and ‘experts’ that if we have spare time, we’re not serious about our businesses. We’re told we’re not worthy of being a business owner if we’re not ‘hustling every damn day’, sacrificing time with family and friends and missing out on birthdays, weddings, baby showers.

But those subtle (or in that case, not very subtle at all) put-downs aren’t just coming from intimating honchos who think they know best. They’re also coming from those close to us, and everyone else in the world. Family members who don’t quite understand what we do will ask, with a look of disapproval, if we stay in our pajamas all day, tip-tapping on our laptops and lounging around on the sofa (YES, I sat down for 10 minutes today Auntie Jane -- GIVE ME A BREAK). Friends will ask if work is busy and will give you a sympathetic eye and head tilt if you answer ‘no’. We’ve somehow equated that busy means we’re successful.

When we hear that we’re not doing a good enough job, no matter how bluntly sharp or quietly subtle those comments are, it chips away at our self-worth. It makes us feel like we’re not good enough. In short, it makes us feel shit.

So, we go full-hog. We work 12 hour days on our computers, only coming up for air to inhale some cold pasta and get back to work again. We answer those who ask how business is going with an exhaustive ‘oh it’s SO busy’. We humble-brag on social media about how many meetings we have that day. We run ourselves into the ground to prove our worth and then we wonder why we’re always sniffling, feeling knackered and like death warmed up (or in my case, how we ended up in a hospital bed with a fractured skull).

All of this has to stop. We need to stop the glorification of ‘busy’ and how we wear burn out like a badge of honor. It is not the ‘only’ way to do business. We do not need to hustle every day to be worthy. We don’t need to work long days and nights to get closer to success -- because, if anything, it’s pushing us further away. Yes, we do have to work at our dreams. We can’t expect things to just happen for us, we have to make it happen. But that doesn’t mean we have to kill ourselves in the process. Overwhelm and stress is not ‘part and parcel’ of the job- it’s a result of decades and decades of myths and perceptions that working hard and long equals success. No longer do you need to listen to all of the noise out there.

What we need to do is work in a way that is intentional and purposeful- on our own terms. It’s time to listen to you.

This is what we’re going to work on together.

Over the next 5 weeks/modules, we’re going to get clear on what you truly want from this journey of entrepreneurship; what you want your working week to look like; what you want to achieve in an effort to get closer to your version of success and how we can start prioritising ourselves and our worth over our ‘busy-ness’. The overriding theme of this course is intuition. There is no wrong or right answer- it’s about what truly works for you.

This is completely self-paced course meaning you can choose to complete a module each week (recommended) or pop in and out when you want. This course involves a few different methods of learning such as Q+A’s, journaling prompts and worksheet exercises which you can download in each applicable module. For the Q+A’s and journaling prompts, you can use Google Docs or Pages if you’d rather to store them digitally, or you could have a dedicated notebook for this course- because I’m sure you need more notebooks! You also get each module and lesson in audio form (so you can learn on the go) which you can download. I’d recommend allowing 1-2 hours a week to work on each module. If you’re thinking ‘I don’t have time for that’, this is a perfect example of what we’ll be learning in the course. Schedule that time in your calendar and treat it like an important business meeting- one you can’t reschedule or cancel.

Lastly, please take a moment to be proud of yourself for showing up in this way. It’s a big thing to invest in yourself and your business and I know just how nerve-wrecking it can be to step up and admit that something needs to change.

I also know that sometimes we buy e-courses in the hope that just the mere act of adding them to checkout and putting our credit details in will mean we’ve done the work already and that we’ve fixed all of our problems (trust me, I’m guilty of it too!). Over the next 5 modules, you’re going to need to put in the work to get the results out. It’s not a passive journey and I unfortunately can’t do the work for you. If you’re guilty of buying multiple courses and never completing them (again, guilty!) then hear me out: This course is one you’re going to want to do. Not just for the success of your business, your customers/clients and your goals but also for you; for your wellbeing, mental health and balance. I’d be one to argue that they were the most important.

I’m so excited to go on this journey with you and to get you closer to your version of success. I just know that you’re going to smash it.

I’m only ever an email away if you find yourself stuck on any of the modules, so please don't hesitate to get in touch.